Hasta La Gadget!

I think you can do pretty much anything with LEGO bricks, but it still amazes me that we are seeing unique creations every day. This LEGO Swiss Army Knife comes from LEGO builder Robiwan_Kenobi. You might recognize that it’s made from LEGO Technic and Bionicle parts, which give it some nice authentic detail. And it is really functional.

Kenobi first built a LEGO Swiss Army Knife back in 2010 and ever since, he has been improving on its design. Now, this knife is the end result. The folding mechanism works exactly like the real knife and all four tools within are functional – just not sharp.

In hopes of LEGO turning this into an actual kit you can buy, he put his creation on the LEGO Cuusoo crowdsourcing website, so if you want to show your support, check it out.

[via Damn Geeky]

We’re no stranger to Matt Armstrong aka Monsterbrick’s brick–snapping prowess. Some of his newest creations are for the upcoming LEGO Star Wars Days that will be held at LEGOLAND California from June 15-16, 2013. Matt made these astromechs using the instructions on the official LEGO R2-D2 kit and parts from his own LEGO collection.

Matt calls this rainbow-colored astromech RU-KRAZY (the droid’s answer is yes, by the way). The black one is called the Death Star Droid R2-Pi while the pink, purple and beige mech is called R2-QT-Pi. Awwww.

Even if you can’t make it to LEGOLAND, you can still view Matt’s mechs up close on his Flickr page.

[via Tie Fighters]

If you and your indolent ass ever wished that there was a gadget that could insert your Xbox 360′s discs for you, this contraption is not the answer. Not only because it’s not really practical, but because you’ll never be able to build it in the first place.

This impressive, but silly disc changer system was made by a mad genius who calls himself Zwenkka. He made it out of about 3,000 parts, including three LEGO Mindstorms NXT micro-computers, seven NXT servos, an R/C motor and a light sensor. The system is operated via a mobile app. Zwenkka selects a disc by entering a number between 1 and 32 (because the tray holds 32 discs). His phone relays the selected disc via Bluetooth and the robot does the rest – slowly. It takes 42 seconds to change a disc.

I wonder how it remembers the location of the open slot on the tray when it has to return a disc. I also wonder if it can be tweaked so it delivers food to one’s mouth instead. Head to Palikkatakomo for more on the Xbox 360 disc changer.

[via Gamefreaks]

Are you a LEGO fanatic? Then, maybe you’d like to add another minifig to your collection. But this isn’t any ordinary minifig, no. It’s made from solid metal.

Designer Jonathan Brady has created this gorgeous LEGO-inspired minifig from .925 sterling silver. It’s not only a perfectly accurate model of a minifig, but all of the joints are posable, and it even is compatible with regular LEGO bricks. It’s actually made from eight pieces of cast solid medal, held together with tiny retaining rings. But this minifig isn’t just for you to stare at. If you’ve got the dough, you can actually order one for yourself through Jonathan’s recent Kickstarter campaign.

Though it’ll cost you. A full-size posable minifig in sterling silver will set you back $475(USD). But if that’s too rich for your blood, you can grab one that doesn’t move for $270, a 2/3rds scale version as a pendant for $190, or a pair of 1/3rd scale earrings for just $70. Though it you want one that actually moves, you’ll have to go with the $475 version.

If you’re really rolling in the dough, aim high and go for the solid 14 karat gold version for $4250, or the one-of-a-kind platinum version for a whopping $9,500.

Be sure not to step on any LEGOs as you run over to Kickstarter to get in on the project before it closes on May 28.

Lego isn’t all just about fun and games. While most kids love to play around with Star Wars Lego sets and craft their own creations out of the plastic connectors, the company wants to bring Legos into the classroom. Lego has announced that their new Mindstorms EV3 robotic sets will be set for classroom use on August 1.

The Lego Mindstorms sets are built to actively engage students and teach them about various fundamentals in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. The Lego sets come with digital workbooks, so teachers shouldn’t have a hard time learning about the new platform before handing them over the students.

We briefly got a look at the third-generation Mindstorms EV3 sets at CES 2013 back in January, and they essentially allow you to build different kinds of robots that you can control with an app on your iOS or Android device. The educational kits will come with software that will easily guide students through the process of building a Mindstorms robot.

Kits start at $340, and they’re available to pre-order right now. That may a bit on the expensive side, and to equip an entire classroom with these sets would be quite costly, but as with most other educational tools, they should be able to hold up for a few years and be able to go through hundreds of students hands.

Lego Mindstorms EV3 set to invade classrooms is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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